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Prevalence of Self-Care and Ambulatory Disability in Baby Boom and Generation-X Birth-Cohorts by Intersectional Markers of Social Stratification

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Abstract

Are differences in disability prevalence between individuals at the top and bottom strata of society a product of non-random processes? Under the assumption that genetic mutations are unlikely to account for the notable differences by makers of social stratification, the research presents a class, race, and then sex (CSR) hypothesis. The cross-sectional study, situated in the continental USA, uses information on 4,914,628 community-dwelling individuals from the Baby Boom (born 1951–1961) and Generation-X (born 1971–1981) birth-cohorts. When population-weighted, the sample is said to represent 96,639,980 of their counterparts. The data come from the American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample 2008–2012 file. Findings indicate that intersectional markers of social stratification help explain the prevalence and risk of self-care and ambulatory disability as predicted by the CSR hypothesis. The analysis provides novel evidence for the plausibility of a “Mexican Paradox” for disability. Amongst those from the Generation-X birth-cohort, low-education Mexican-origin Latinos had lower risk of disability than low-education non-Latino whites. Ageing studies should consider using intersectional markers of social stratification.

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Funding

This work was supported by the NIH Grant No. U01 AG023744 (to A. B. Newman) entitled “Long Life Family Study: University of Pittsburgh Field Center (LLFS)”.

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  1. Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, 130 North Bellefield Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Carlos Siordia

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  1. Carlos Siordia
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Correspondence to Carlos Siordia.

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Siordia, C. Prevalence of Self-Care and Ambulatory Disability in Baby Boom and Generation-X Birth-Cohorts by Intersectional Markers of Social Stratification. Race Soc Probl 7, 257–268 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-015-9155-4

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